PUCO approves auction results for FirstEnergy

Published: January 29, 2012 8:00AM

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio approved the results of the fourth in a series of six wholesale auctions that will determine FirstEnergy's retail generation service rates through May 2014. The auction establishes the new generation rates of $53.37 per megawatt hour for June-May 2013. That is a four percent decrease from the current price.

During the 16-round auction, six competitive suppliers submitted winning bids for the opportunity to provide electricity to FirstEnergy customers. Additional auctions will be held in October and Jan. 2013 to set the generation price between June 2013-May 2014.

Featured: Jennifer Brown has been selected for inclusion in the 2012 Ohio Rising stars list featuring outstanding young lawyers in Ohio. Brown is a partner with the law firm of Arthur, O'Neil, Mertz, Michel & Brown Co., where her areas of practice include insurance law, personal injury law, social security disability, domestic relations and general civic litigation. She served on the board and legislative committee for the Ohio Association for Justice and completed the Ohio Bar Association Leadership Academy in 2011. She lives in Defiance with her husband, Jay Brown.

Resume talks: A union official says locked-out tire company workers in northwestern Ohio plan to resume talks with management next month with help from a federal mediator. Patrick Gallagher of the United Steelworkers Local 207L tells The Courier newspaper that Findlay workers expect to resume negotiations with Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. on Feb. 6. The newspaper says Cooper Tire declined to comment for the story. Workers at the plant in Findlay have been locked out since late November. Union members had voted down a tentative three-year contract.

Price protest: Hundreds of drivers in Poland squeezed by rising gas prices waged a protest across the country on Saturday, driving at a snail's pace and blocking key routes in a show of frustration. Drivers slowed down to about 20-25 mph, the minimum legal speed, on certain highways as a way to pressure the government to do something about rising gas costs. Gasoline costs about $1.71 per liter in Poland now, which is among one of the lower rates in Europe. However, prices have been on the rise lately because of a rise in oil prices on the international market and because of new taxes, leaving drivers feeling squeezed.

Suit filed: In Silicon Valley's white-hot competition for tech talent, programmers can face a daily barrage of calls from recruiters seeking to woo them to rival companies with offers of better pay and perks. But workers for some of the biggest names in the business claim their phones fell silent because of a conspiracy among their employers.A lawsuit filed in federal court in San Jose claims Google, Intel, Adobe, Intuit, Lucasfilm, Pixar and Apple violated antitrust laws by agreeing not to hire each other's best workers.

Proposed plea: Court documents in Ohio indicate lawn and garden company Scotts Miracle-Gro intends to plead guilty to violating federal pesticides law, pay a $4 million fine and give $500,000 to help support wildlife study and preservation. The proposed plea and penalties were agreed to by the government and Marysville-based company and filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus. Among the allegations is that the company used a toxic pesticide on birdfeed for two years.

Sentenced: A real estate manager who tried to cover up a Connecticut-based pyramid scheme involving hundreds of millions of dollars from a Venezuela state pension fund has been sentenced to 14 months in prison.Forty-one-year-old Juan Carlos Horna Napolitano is a citizen of Venezuela and Italy living in Pembroke Pines, Fla. He pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to obstruct a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of hedge fund adviser Francisco Illarramendi.

Revamped: The suburban Detroit museum founded by car pioneer Henry Ford is opening its revamped automotive displays this weekend. "Driving America" opens to the public today at Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn following a preview event. The exhibit showcases the museum's rich collection and the enormous influence of the automobile on U.S. culture.